Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Good, they fixed the memory leak with the temp gauges!
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Kerbal Space Program |OT| 1.2 Loud and Clear - Comm Networks, New Fuel Flow and More
- Thread starter gutterboy44
- Start date
Good, they fixed the memory leak with the temp gauges!
... and I ended up giving up on RemoteTech, at least in career mode and I'm so new to it. I just couldn't get it to work - I finally got to the point where I could send a probe to the Mun (still only had level 1 tracking ugh thanks to all the money I had to sink into the comms network) and then for some reason the comms network just stopped working reliably. No idea whyso I've disabled that mod until some other time, probably not career mode, to try and play with it. In "reality" you'd have several tracking stations across Kerbin able to communicate with probes. You wouldn't need to set up a goddamn communications satellite network *as the first thing you do in the game*.
I think there is a mod to add in more ground tracking stations on Kerbin to make that a bit easier for yourself. But yeah, Remote Tech adds a whole new level of complexity to the game and if that's what you want its great at what it does!
I remember the first time I used it and trying to get my first relay sat into orbit. That alone isn't easy when you've only got a few minutes before you lose communications. So you need to burn perfectly to achieve a basic orbit just as you lose communications so that you can correct it later on.
So my ships now randomly explode due to some parts allegedly crashing into the launch pad, even from a 250 km circular orbit. I hope the new version helps with this.
I think it's Kerbin-Side, it adds more launchpads and runways and someone set up several ground stations for Remote Tech.
I've been running into this bizarre thing where I have ships that won't launch from the pad. They've got plenty of thrust, but they need an extra kick (from another engine) to get going. Typically this is in a single inline rocket with two boosters attached - I have the liquid engine in the middle set to stage after the solids have exhausted, but I find I need to kick the liquid briefly to get off the damn launchpad (and I come off it quite quickly) before I manually shut it down to manually "stage" it back in again later...
I've got Kerbin-Side installed, but there's no extra ground stations for Remote Tech...
Ah, you have to hack it in.
OK, I will give that a try!
Some of the add-on contracts very challenging, and quite a nice variation on the stock ones. I'm enjoying the space station ones (build one, maintain it, add on to it, rotate crew, .. ) and there's a stack of additional Kerbal-ferrying missions including some that seem quite complex (like: pick up a Kerbal from the North Pole station, take them in suborbital flight over 50km to another point on Kerbin).
If only stations didn't hit the FPS quite so much :/
Edit: yeah, I'm going to replace the station I have around Kerbin to simplify it in the name of fun. Launch a new one that *hopefully* will reduce the part count & thus FPS hit & de-orbit the old one. Hopefully that won't break the contract stuff.. I also need to install Routine Mission
If only stations didn't hit the FPS quite so much :/
Edit: yeah, I'm going to replace the station I have around Kerbin to simplify it in the name of fun. Launch a new one that *hopefully* will reduce the part count & thus FPS hit & de-orbit the old one. Hopefully that won't break the contract stuff.. I also need to install Routine Mission
I've kinda always wanted a Real Joystick for my PC and I finally got one today (Seitek X55 HOTAS) which I just got to play with in game, flying around the KSC. Flying in KSP has never been this fun. Or easy. Landing is a cinch. Wow. A bit fiddly to set up, and there's stacks of config still to do (I only set up pitch/roll/yaw/throttle, a hat for camera and some switches for brakes, SAS, gear and staging). There's just so many buttons on the X55 there's one for every damn thing
I've not tried to fly a rocket or perform a docking maneuver yet. I also have still to figure out how to fit everything on the desk. But wow, flying with the HOTAS is just so much fun
I've not tried to fly a rocket or perform a docking maneuver yet. I also have still to figure out how to fit everything on the desk. But wow, flying with the HOTAS is just so much fun
Can't speak for the X45, I've got the X55, but I imagine you'll still have fun even without all the buttons and switches
The key is to uninstall the Saitek software (because there's horrid lag issues apparently, but leave the drivers, of course) and use Advanced Fly By Wire to configure the joystick in game. Don't use the game's configuration stuff 'cos it's unable to distinguish between two different joystick-like devices (ie. stick and throttle) and gets mighty confused.
I had to manually install AFBW because CKAN doesn't want me to be able to install incompatible mods. Turns out that's a good thing because AFBW bundles an *old* version of the toolbar mod. If you don't have the toolbar mod installed, no sweat
gutterboy44
Member
That's awesome. I saw your post on the front page or Reddit. I can't wait to play KSP and Minecraft with my kid.
Playing a new game with many, many more mods (including re-adding RemoteTech now I'm more confident).
So many parts mods that instability became a serious issue until I switched to OpenGL.
So many parts mods that instability became a serious issue until I switched to OpenGL.
Just uploaded an album to imgur of my first real base construction on the Mün using a ton of mods (see the album for the full list
Duna base time, including a album of the construction of KSS Sparkling Petal:
No, at almost 600 hours I'm still not bored of this game
No, at almost 600 hours I'm still not bored of this game
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Dear Lord you have a lot of mods installed!!!!
Base is looking good though. I'm planning on devoting lots of time to KSP this winter, my next goal is also a Duna landing (I've still not ever set one Kerbal foot on Duna!). All of my limited summer gaming time has been spent bopping back and forth between Diablo III, Dirt Rally, Elite Dangerous, and Flight Simulator.
Too many games, not enough time....
Base is looking good though. I'm planning on devoting lots of time to KSP this winter, my next goal is also a Duna landing (I've still not ever set one Kerbal foot on Duna!). All of my limited summer gaming time has been spent bopping back and forth between Diablo III, Dirt Rally, Elite Dangerous, and Flight Simulator.
Too many games, not enough time....
I just picked up the game over the weekend and have already dumped 15 hours into the game. I keep thinking of new designed while I'm at work and school, then spend hours tweaking them when I get home, much to the annoyance of my wife.
I've been able to consistently get into orbit, though it's not always perfect, and I'm currently designing a moon lander.
I've been able to consistently get into orbit, though it's not always perfect, and I'm currently designing a moon lander.
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Congrats, you just lost a ton of free time!!!
The game is super addicting. I've put it on hold this summer due to a lack of game time to play everything I want to but this winter I'm going to put another couple dozen hours into KSP, and I already have well over 100 hours played on it now. It's a great game. Welcome to space exploration Grief!
gutterboy44
Member
Designing your own lander, flying it to the Mun and successfully landing it for the first time, is one of the most satisfying things ever in a video game.
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
I saw the movie The Martian tonight and wow did it make me think a lot about KSP. They were talking about trajectories and periapses and everytime they showed that Mars base I kept thinking about a Duna surface base, LOL.
I now want to build a huge interplanetary ship that can carry landers and modules and a lot of Kerbals....
I now want to build a huge interplanetary ship that can carry landers and modules and a lot of Kerbals....
I am hopelessly addicted right now. I managed to land on both the Mun and Minmus this weekend, and now I'm looking forward to Duna.
I had a mission to explore a certain spot on the poles, I was planning my approach and thought this was gorgeous. I ended up wasting a lot of delta V when I had to fine tune my angle after I was in orbit.
My current rocket/lander system. Took it to the Mun on my last mission and had plenty of fuel left, will be ready for Duna. (Legs are extended just to draw attention to the lander, retracted prior to flight)
The actual act of piloting would be perfect for analog control. I'm always tapping on my keys to get slight changes in vector.
gutterboy44
Member
Nice job Grief! It is crazy how quickly this game can get its hooks in to you.
On a space related note, NASA just uploaded all of the Apollo archive photos to flickr. So many incredible photos!!!!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/albums
On a space related note, NASA just uploaded all of the Apollo archive photos to flickr. So many incredible photos!!!!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/albums
Oh god they're all scanned in really high res too - 16mp was one I checked. Is there any quick way to just download everything in a flicker folder? I want all of it to slowly wade through and for a lot of new wallpapers
Is there any way to prevent the heating thing from working? There's this (I think) glitch where a bunch of parts are exploding due to overheat for no apparent reason. I mean, I have the rocket in the launchpad with no engines active, no moving parts doing their thing or whatever, the rocket is just sitting there; and the temperature in some parts is going up very rapidly until they explode, some even heating to death in one or two seconds.
I've been using the "ignore max temperature" cheat marker but it doesn't prevent the thermal gauges from appearing, which is very annoying.
I've been using the "ignore max temperature" cheat marker but it doesn't prevent the thermal gauges from appearing, which is very annoying.
I've noticed that as well.
I had one particular mission where I was orbiting the Mun and Minimus and I kept randomly exploding.
I was just diligent with my quick saves.
gutterboy44
Member
That sounds like a nasty bug. Have you searched the KSP forums? It seems pretty significant and I would imagine many others would have that issue.
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Wow, I've never seen anything odd with heat generation. The only problem I've seen is when using nuclear engines, but that's a drawback with them as they just run hot.
I did and apparently there is a handful of issues associated with heat. Guess I'll continue cheating when this occurs until some patch finally fixes this, hopefully next one.
The issue only occurred during that one trip between the Mun and Minmus, other than that I haven't seen any weird issues.
In other news, I landed on Ike this morning. Had enough fuel to get back into Kerbin's orbit and I quicksaved right as I was ready to begin using the atmosphere to slow down.
My next goal is Duna.
EDIT: Have three Duna system related missions. Return science from Duna, land on Duna, and build a station around Ike. I may attempt the latter first as that sounds like a blast.
Putting my first satellite in orbit around Minmus right now to fulfill a contract.
gutterboy44
Member
Sorry for getting behind on updates (my wife and I had our first child at the start of November. He's future KSP player in the making!) I updated the OP with some new details on 1.0.5
So update 1.0.5 came out with some great changes. Full list of features and changes can be found here
The bullet points are revamped contextual contract system, revised thermodynamics, buoyancy added, and new and improved parts.
Giantbomb fans, and any KSP player who loves watching "noobs" suffer the trials and tribulations of their first Mun and back missions should check out part 1 of their Kerbal: Project B.E.A.S.T video series
Vinny, if you are reading this thread. Just some basic advice without getting too pedantic.
1. Keep things symmetrical and place inline reaction wheels in line with the center of mass of your ship. That off center reaction wheel on the nose of your Mun Shot craft will play havoc with stabilization as well as create off center drag. Its torque forces are skewed compared to the direction of everything else, eg. engine gimbal, winglets, thrust.
2. Try your best to maintain a 90 degree (due East) heading on your launch when making your gravity turn. This will pay dividends for the over all Mun mission. It should make capturing the Mun's gravity a little easier, and will allow you to easily land at a position close to the Mun's equator which will make lining up your return trajectory back to Kerbin a little easier. You can still get back to Kerbin from any point on the Mun, but landing on the near side of the Mun allows you too easily see where you are landing and the terrain has some smoother spots compared to the far side of the Mun and poles.
3. Consider making a smaller landing vessel instead of trying to land a narrow tall rocket. Landing a small lander craft with a nice wide landing gear base is much easier than trying to balance a tall narrow rocket. Save the big rockets and fuel tanks to get to the Mun and establish orbit, then use a small craft with small engines to land and fly back to Kerbin. It doesn't require that much delta V to go from the surface of the Mun back to Kerbin.
So update 1.0.5 came out with some great changes. Full list of features and changes can be found here
The bullet points are revamped contextual contract system, revised thermodynamics, buoyancy added, and new and improved parts.
Giantbomb fans, and any KSP player who loves watching "noobs" suffer the trials and tribulations of their first Mun and back missions should check out part 1 of their Kerbal: Project B.E.A.S.T video series
Vinny, if you are reading this thread. Just some basic advice without getting too pedantic.
1. Keep things symmetrical and place inline reaction wheels in line with the center of mass of your ship. That off center reaction wheel on the nose of your Mun Shot craft will play havoc with stabilization as well as create off center drag. Its torque forces are skewed compared to the direction of everything else, eg. engine gimbal, winglets, thrust.
2. Try your best to maintain a 90 degree (due East) heading on your launch when making your gravity turn. This will pay dividends for the over all Mun mission. It should make capturing the Mun's gravity a little easier, and will allow you to easily land at a position close to the Mun's equator which will make lining up your return trajectory back to Kerbin a little easier. You can still get back to Kerbin from any point on the Mun, but landing on the near side of the Mun allows you too easily see where you are landing and the terrain has some smoother spots compared to the far side of the Mun and poles.
3. Consider making a smaller landing vessel instead of trying to land a narrow tall rocket. Landing a small lander craft with a nice wide landing gear base is much easier than trying to balance a tall narrow rocket. Save the big rockets and fuel tanks to get to the Mun and establish orbit, then use a small craft with small engines to land and fly back to Kerbin. It doesn't require that much delta V to go from the surface of the Mun back to Kerbin.
gutterboy44
Member
Giantbomb Kerbal: Project B.E.A.S.T. part 2 is up.
Let's see if they fair any better. Vinny reducing the amount of SRBs straight out of the gate. This is promising.
Let's see if they fair any better. Vinny reducing the amount of SRBs straight out of the gate. This is promising.
Yeah, but then he goes and puts the absolute worst engine on for his lander.
gutterboy44
Member
Yep, just got there. Dear god, this has taken a turn for the worst. It is like watching a ship building video where they are debating how big they should make the whole in the bottom of the boat.
Edit: Oh this is painful. Austin is asking all of the right questions that would help so much if Vinny listened. "Shouldn't the landing craft be smaller" YES! "Does it matter which direction you launch in?" YES!
Edit2: Oh thank god, Austin won his, "make a smaller craft for the Mun landing and return phase" argument.
gutterboy44
Member
Hahah. Perfect ending. The liquid fuel fuselage they added ages ago finally comes around to bite them. Got to have that oxidizer.
This game has become unplayable for me for some reason.
I have a bunch of mods installed and my game will randomly just crash to desktop every so often. Before, it was every 10 minutes or so but now it takes like 90 seconds. I'm guessing it's a memory issue but I don't know. What's the point of mods if the game can't even handle them?
My mod list:
I have a bunch of mods installed and my game will randomly just crash to desktop every so often. Before, it was every 10 minutes or so but now it takes like 90 seconds. I'm guessing it's a memory issue but I don't know. What's the point of mods if the game can't even handle them?
My mod list:
gutterboy44
Member
Are you using the 64 bit exe? That is recommend if you are running several mods. You more than likely have one mod that is causing the issue or two mods conflicting. The more mods you install the harder it is to keep track of all of their change logs and possible bugs. I have seen people running far more mods than you in KSP without issue, it just takes way too much micro management and also depends on what release KSP is on and what release each mod creator has updated their mod too. A lot of mods don't follow each KSP update, others creators carefully verify and update their mods along side KSP updates.
Beyond disabling mods from the most recent to the oldest, I have no idea how to troubleshoot them. Intuition would also say try disabling mods that heavily modify graphics/textures first too. Are there log files? Did this issue happen with the November update? Updates are always dodgy to try to carry mods through. Hope you can get it sorted. Game crashes when you just want to sit down and enjoy a game are the worst.
runningjoke
Member
Anyone tried AtmosphereAutopilot? Makes flying planes much easier and more fun
gutterboy44
Member
Woah, that is a nice looking mod. So smooth. That is my one problem when I run career modes, Space Planes tend to take a back seat for too long.
runningjoke
Member
Kerbal: Project B.E.A.S.T - Part 03
If any of the Beast crew reads this, please point the rocket at the 90 degree line next time. Altho I am impressed in your ability to get an encounter with such terrible orbits
I wonder how far back they would have made it if he just kept firing the engine.
If any of the Beast crew reads this, please point the rocket at the 90 degree line next time. Altho I am impressed in your ability to get an encounter with such terrible orbits
Zeouterlimits
Member
I need to learn how to do Kerbin reentry properly.
theepicoftyler
Member
I bought this during the Steam sale after getting turned on to the game by the recent Giant Bomb videos...
Is there a logical progression to doing the career mode? I feel like I am often accepting contracts that seem like I should be able to do them, but then finding out that I am not at all equipped to attempt them. Is career mode just doing contracts? Or are there other objectives that I should be paying attention to?
Should I just jump to sandbox mode and go nuts? I figured career mode would hold my hand a bit with the basics of rocketeering but it's been pretty hands-off so far.
Is there a logical progression to doing the career mode? I feel like I am often accepting contracts that seem like I should be able to do them, but then finding out that I am not at all equipped to attempt them. Is career mode just doing contracts? Or are there other objectives that I should be paying attention to?
Should I just jump to sandbox mode and go nuts? I figured career mode would hold my hand a bit with the basics of rocketeering but it's been pretty hands-off so far.
gutterboy44
Member
There are going to be contracts you can't immediately do but you can accept the contract. These contracts often have very long windows to complete them in, so there is no rush but they give you a good direction to head. Career mode doesn't do a ton of hand holding, but its most important aspect is limiting your selection of parts. Although it is a lot of fun to go straight to sandbox and build like crazy, the stock parst count is high enough these days where you will miss the significance and use case for many parts if you just start dicking around in sandbox...see all of the Giantbomb BEAST videos. They are using the wrong engines for their needs because they just started strapping on engines that look big, but bigger isn't better. There are also milestones that automatically unlock and reward you unrelated to contracts. Such as first orbit, first Mun landing, etc.
I think you should stick with the career, but if you go sandbox, I would recommend trying to replicate the history of the space race between the US and Russia. Get a rocket into space, get one into orbit and back, get to the Mun, land on the Mun, land on the Mun and make it back home safely. If you can achieve all of that, KSP should have its hooks in you and career mode will make more sense or you will be going wild in sandbox trying to reach the next planet. If you're have trouble understanding some aspects of the game, there are tons of great tutorial videos on Youtube. Scott Manley videos are always a good place to start.
Edit: You know what, don't worry about career mode too much. I just did a clean start on career mode, and even with the changes in contracts, it is still a bit too slow of a grind imo with science. You either have to do a bunch of silly ass science exploiting missions or it takes forever to get decent contracts. I think getting to know each part before buying new ones is valuable, but the career mode still needs some tweaking. I feel like they tuned it for seasoned KSP players when it should be more for newcomers.
theepicoftyler
Member
This is kind of my issue right now. I can launch up a couple hundred thousand meters and return to the surface safely and now all of my contracts just have me doing that over and over again in some capacity. I don't feel like I am learning much. I tried to buy into the Aviation tech tree to try something new and do the survey contracts but I'm not sure I have all the parts necessary to successfully fly yet.
gutterboy44
Member
You should have a contract for establishing orbit. Completing this will start to unlock the next tier of contracts that encourage further space travel. All the in atmosphere contracts are a pain but can be a fun challenge for some people. I don't think they help much with learning the ropes. You want to take the contracts that are putting you out in to orbit, learning maneuvers and getting to the Mun or Minmus. Learning how to orbit and de-orbit with limit parts is definitely worth trying once or twice. Just getting a Mun fly by can start netting some serious science and new contracts.
I am not sure if you have ever skateboarded or are familiar with it, but getting into a nice 100Km orbit @ 90 degrees is like the ollie. You have to learn to ollie in skateboarding and master it first because it is the core move to pretty much all the other tricks. Master getting into an orbit with all different types of crafts and you have a really strong foundation for all future KSP missions.
DeadlyBunny
Member
As someone who has played a crap ton of ksp, Watching the project B.E.A.S.T. videos has been both the most frustrating and most entertaining giant bomb videos I've watched in a while.
Everyone's absolute sense of accomplishment was amazing to see when they finally land on the mun. Their panic as they watched other crafts plummet to their doom is also entertaining.
However, at least two of their rockets were capable of reaching the moon with better piloting.
Those kerbals died to incompetence
However, at least two of their rockets were capable of reaching the moon with better piloting.
Those kerbals died to incompetence
gutterboy44
Member
Yep, the BEAST episodes are a wild ride of joy and frustration. There are some very basic things they are missing that would go a long way. Like taking the 5 minutes to read how the Navball works and maneuver nodes. They have no clue that the green bar when setting a maneuver node is the delta V you need to complete the planned maneuver. 90 degree heading on launch, 100km parking orbit, approximate location of the Mun for easy encounter before transferring, and the right engine choice, and they could be half way to Duna by now. It made their landing on the Mun that much more amazing considering their self imposed extra challenges. Mun landings are certainly a hell of a lot easier with the lock to retrograde pilot button. All you have to do is manage throttle at that point. I like the idea that they should split the controls among the three of them. Just have one person flying, one person doing throttle, and the other watching all the fuel and vitals. I think that would be great for future episodes.
gutterboy44
Member
OK, after getting further in my fresh career in 1.0.5, the revised contract system is definitely better than it was at 1.0 launch. A lot of the mundane, test a part here, survey Kerbin over here, disappeared once I pushed to the Mun. Now most of my contracts are in the context of the Mun and beyond. So, it seems it will present you with at least one contract to push you to the next level, and several to complete at your current level of skill. I think that is a pretty good balance. If you want to grind some resources you can before pushing on to the next milestone. I still see absolutely zero use for the administration building. Maybe that will come in handy deeper into career mode, but at 5% investment, nothing happens. I would get zero additional science for missions, but it would continue to deduct funds. Guess I need bigger contracts for it to be effective.
I ended up getting more enjoyment out of the low level Kerbin contracts that I thought I would have. I was trying to complete two or three at a time which added an extra layer of challenge. They also gave me time to butt up against the revised aero and re entry. The new aero and re-entry tweaks are also fantastic. Re-entry is finally a challenge and I found myself having to completely re do my re-entry profiles and put that ablator to work! Launches are also more interesting now that you get more aero resistance. Using thrust limiting on SRBs is a great way to get a more efficient launch.
I ended up getting more enjoyment out of the low level Kerbin contracts that I thought I would have. I was trying to complete two or three at a time which added an extra layer of challenge. They also gave me time to butt up against the revised aero and re entry. The new aero and re-entry tweaks are also fantastic. Re-entry is finally a challenge and I found myself having to completely re do my re-entry profiles and put that ablator to work! Launches are also more interesting now that you get more aero resistance. Using thrust limiting on SRBs is a great way to get a more efficient launch.